malin

Borrowed from Latin malignus (“wicked, malicious”).

• IPA^(key): /ma.lɛ̃/

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malin (feminine singular maligne, masculine plural malins, feminine plural malignes)

1. smart and quick-thinking, and often a trickster; cunning, crafty.

   Comme c'est malin !

   How smart!

2. Intelligent, bright.
3. (medicine) Malignant.

   Antonym: tumeur maligne

   Antonym: bénin

4. (Quebec) Said of an aggressive animal or a petulant person.
5. (chiefly dated or biblical) Malicious, sadistic; which likes to do or say hurtful things for fun.
6. (obsolete) Nocive; pernicious.

• Common usage is to form the feminine by adding an -e, following the regular rule. However, despite the fact that the form maline has been largely used in spoken language for centuries, it is still considered incorrect and the form maligne, yet scarcely used orally, is expected in careful writing.
• In its meaning of “malicious” the word is mostly restricted to expressions such as malin plaisir; it is a standard attribute of the Devil.

• (smart, clever): astucieux, fin, intelligent, rusé
• (malicious): méchant

malin m (plural malins, feminine maligne)

1. trickster, smart person

• gros malin : smart ass
• petit malin : trickster
• faire le malin

• “malin” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• milan, Milan